PURPOSE
S: The purposes of this study were (1) to identify the rate of suicide attempts, and (2) to investigate relevant variables(family dynamic environment, personality factors) and risk factors for attempting suicide among Korean adolescents.
METHOD
Data were collected through a questionnaire survey.
Internal consistencies for this questionnaire ranged from 0.63 to 0.88. Nine hundred and twenty two adolescents were surveyed (delinquent : 367, student : 555), using a proportional stratified random sampling method. Statistical methods employed were chi-square, t-test, and logistic regression analysis.
RESULTS
(1) The rate of suicide attempts was 10.8% for the total sample, and the delinquents(19.6%) had a higher rate of suicide attempts than the students(5.1%). (2) Adolescents attempting suicide had a greater dysfunctional family dynamic environment and more maladaptive personality than those who did not attempt suicide. (3) Risk factors for suicide attempts among Korean adolescents were way of coping, psychosomatic symptoms, and parental child-rearing attitudes, in that order.
CONCLUSIONS
Suicide and suicidal behaviors are multifaceted events. For suicide prevention, there is a need to make an independent assessment of the variables such as familial problems, personality and dynamic environment of the families of the adolescents.
